The mayor of Bologna () is an elected politician who, along with the Bologna City Council, is accountable for the strategic government of Bologna, the regional capital of Emilia-Romagna, Italy.
Overview According to the Italian Constitution, the mayor of Bologna is a member of the City Council. The Mayor is elected by the population of Bologna, who also elects the members of the City Council, the legislative body which checks the mayor's policy guidelines and is able to enforce his resignation by a motion of no confidence. The mayor is entitled to appoint and release the members of his executive. Since 1993, the mayor is elected directly by Bologna's electorate: in all mayoral elections in Italy in cities with a population higher than 15,000 voters express a direct choice for the mayor or an indirect choice voting for the party of the candidate's coalition. If no candidate receives at least 50% of votes, the top two candidates go to a second round after two weeks. The election of the City Council is based on a direct choice for the candidate with a preference vote: the candidate with the majority of the preferences is elected. The number of the seats for each party is determined proportionally on the base of a majority bonus system.
List of mayors of Bologna
Kingdom of Italy (1860-1946) In 1860, the nascent Kingdom of Italy created the office of the mayor of Bologna, who was chosen by the city council. In 1926, the Italian fascist dictatorship abolished mayors and city councils, replacing them with an authoritarian Podestà chosen by the National Fascist Party.
Mayor Term start Term end Party 1Luigi Pizzardi6 April 186011 January 1862Right 2Carlo Pepoli11 January 18627 May 1866Independent 3Gioacchino Napoleone Pepoli7 May 18666 April 1870Left 4Camillo Casarini6 April 18703 January 1875Left 5Gaetano Tacconi3 January 187529 March 1890Right 6Carlo Carli29 March 18901 June 1891Left 7Alberto Dallolio1 June 189122 December 1902Left 8Enrico Golinelli22 December 190230 January 1905Left 9Giuseppe Tanari30 January 190521 November 1910Right 10Ettore Nadalini21 November 191015 July 1914Left 11Francesco Zanardi15 July 191421 November 1920PSI 12Enio Gnudi21 November 19204 March 1923PSI13Umberto Puppini4 March 192326 December 1926PNF Fascist Podestà (1926-1945)1Leandro Arpinati26 December 192622 September 1929PNF2Antonio Carranti22 September 192924 April 1930PNF3Giovanni Battista Berardi10 July 19301 October 1933PNF4Angelo Manaresi1 October 193310 July 1936PNF5Cesare Colliva10 July 193623 November 1939PNF6Enzo Ferné23 November 193926 August 1943PNF7Mario Agnoli26 August 194325 April 1945PFR Liberation (1945-1946) 14Giuseppe Dozza25 April 19457 April 1946PCI
Republic of Italy (1946–present) From 1945 to 1995, the mayor of Bologna was chosen by the city council.
Mayor of Bologna Term start Term end Party Coalition Election 1 Giuseppe Dozza (1901–1974) 7 April 1946 19 June 1951 PCI PCI PSI 1946 19 June 1951 30 June 1956 1951 30 June 1956 7 December 1960 1956 7 December 1960 6 February 1965 1960 6 February 1965 2 April 19661964 2 Guido Fanti (1925–2012) 2 April 1966 29 July 1970 PCI 3 Renato Zangheri (1925–2015) 29 July 1970 23 July 1975 PCI PCI PSI PSIUP 1970 23 July 1975 23 July 1980 PCI PSI 1975 23 July 1980 29 April 19831980 4 Renzo Imbeni (1944–2005) 29 April 1983 24 July 1985 PCIPDS 24 July 1985 16 July 1990 PCI 1985 16 July 1990 27 February 1993 PCI PSI PSDI1990 5 Walter Vitali (b. 1952) 27 February 1993 24 April 1995 PDS PDS PSI PSDI
Since 1995, under provisions of new local administration law (1993), the mayor of Bologna is chosen by direct election, originally every four years, and since 1999 every five years.
Mayor of Bologna Term start Term end Party Coalition Election (5) Walter Vitali (b. 1952) 24 April 1995 30 June 1999 PDSDS The Olive Tree(PDS-PPI-FdV) 1995 6 Giorgio Guazzaloca (1944–2017) 30 June 1999 14 June 2004 Ind Pole for Freedoms(FI-AN) 1999 7 Sergio Cofferati (b. 1948) 14 June 2004 23 June 2009 DSPD The Olive Tree(DS-DL-FdV-PRC-IdV) 2004 8 Flavio Delbono (b. 1959) 23 June 2009 17 February 2010 PD PD IdV FdS FdV2009Special Prefectural Commissioner tenure (17 February 2010 – 16 May 2011) 9 Virginio Merola (b. 1955) 16 May 2011 20 June 2016 PD PD SEL IdV 2011 20 June 2016 11 October 2021 PD 2016 10 Matteo Lepore (b. 1980) 11 October 2021 Incumbent PD PD SI IV EV M5S 2021 Notes
Timeline
By time in office RankMayorPolitical PartyTotal time in officeTerms1Giuseppe DozzaPCI 52Renato ZangheriPCI 33Virginio MerolaPD24Renzo ImbeniPCI 25Walter VitaliPDS26Sergio CofferatiDS / PD17Giorgio GuazzalocaInd 18Matteo LeporePD19Guido FantiPCI 110Flavio DelbonoPD1
Elections City Council elections, 1946–1990
Number of votes for each party: Election DC PCI PSI PLI PRI PSDI MSI Others Total 24 March 1946 56,543(30.3%) 71,369 (38.3%) 49,031 (26.3%) 2,940 (1.6%) 5,343 (2.9%) – – 1,200 (0.6%) 186,426 27 May 1951 59,532(25.8%) 93,043 (40.4%) 16,892 (7.9%) 13,837 (6.0%) 4,409 (1.9%) 32,498 (14.1%) 7,716 (3.6%) 2,350 (1.0%) 230,307 27 May 1956 74,388(27.7%) 121,556 (45.3%) 19,955 (7.4%) 12,380 (4.6%) 3,412 (1.3%) 23,290 (8.8%) 13,407 (5.0%) – 268,571 6 November 1960 81,087 (26.7%) 138,090 (45.6%) 25,962 (8.6%) 14,958 (4.9%) 3,298 (1.1%) 26,336 (8.7%) 13,262 (4.4%) – 302,993 22 November 1964 73,530 (22.0%) 149,433 (44.8%) 25,265 (7.8%) 36,707 (11.0%) 1,672 (0.5%) 27,707 (8.3%) 11,274 (3.4%) 8,055 (2.4%) 333,655 7 June 1970 74,956 (21.3%) 149,339 (42.5%) 26,462 (7.5%) 25,493 (7.3%) 9,347 (2.7%) 36,852 (10.5%) 15,633 (4.6%) 12,956 (3.7%)351,038 15 June 1975 84,840 (23.1%) 179,622 (49.0%) 34,178 (9.3%) 13,535 (3.7%) 10,659 (2.9%) 24,509 (6.7%) 19,067 (5.2%) –366,410 8 June 1980 77,579 (22.5%) 158,585 (46.0%) 32,300 (9.4%) 13,897 (4.0%) 13,630 (4.0%) 21,841 (6.3%) 15,768 (4.6%) 10,822 (3.1%)344,422 12 May 1985 77,199 (22.7%) 151,113 (44.5%) 40,969 (12.1%) 10,009 (3.0%) 15,372 (4.5%) 10,469 (3.1%) 17,976 (5.3%) 16,409 (4.8%)339,516 6 May 1990 65,354 (20.4%) 124,237 (38.7%) 44,068 (13.7%) 9,040 (2.8%) 17,670 (5.5%) 5,824 (1.8%) 12,707 (4.0%) 47,774 (14.9%)320,850
Number of seats in the City Council for each party: Election DC PCI PSI PLI PRI PSDI MSI Others Total 24 March 1946 19 24 16 – 1 – – – 60 27 May 1951 10 33 6 2 1 6 1 1 60 27 May 1956 17 29 4 2 – 5 3 – 60 6 November 1960 17 28 5 3 – 5 2 – 60 22 November 1964 14 28 4 6 – 5 2 1 60 7 June 1970 14 27 4 4 1 6 2 260 15 June 1975 14 31 5 2 1 4 3 –60 8 June 1980 14 29 6 2 2 4 3 –60 12 May 1985 15 29 7 1 2 2 3 160 6 May 1990 13 25 9 1 3 1 2 760
Mayoral and City Council election, 1995 The election took place on 23 April 1995.
| colspan="7" align=center| |- |- style="background-color:#E9E9E9;text-align:center;" ! colspan="4" rowspan="1" style="text-align:left;" | Parties and coalitions ! colspan="1" | Votes ! colspan="1" | % ! colspan="1" | Seats |- | style="background-color:pink" rowspan="3" | | style="background-color:" | | style="text-align:left;" | Two Towers for Bologna (Due Torri per Bologna) | PDS | 104,276 || 38.65 || 22 |- | style="background-color:orange" | | style="text-align:left;" | Democrats for Bologna (Democratici per Bologna) | PPI | 17,049 || 6.32 || 3 |- | style="background-color:" | | style="text-align:left;" | Federation of the Greens (Federazione dei Verdi) | FdV | 14,136 || 5.24 || 3 |- style="background-color:pink" | style="text-align:left;" colspan="4" | Vitali coalition (Centre-left) | 135,461 || 50.22 || 28 |- | style="background-color:lightblue" rowspan="2" | | style="background-color:" | | style="text-align:left;" | National Alliance (Alleanza Nazionale) | AN | 46,840 || 17.36 || 7 |- | style="background-color:blue" | | style="text-align:left;" | Federalist Union (Unione Federalista) | UF | 1,420 || 0.53 || 0 |- style="background-color:lightblue" | colspan="4" style="text-align:left;" | Berselli coalition (Right-wing) | 48,260 || 17.89 || 7 |- | style="background-color:" | | style="text-align:left;" colspan="2" | New Bologna (Bologna Nuova) | FI | 44,723 || 16.58 || 7 |- | style="background-color:" | | style="text-align:left;" colspan="2" | Communist Refoundation Party (Rifondazione Comunista) | PRC | 20,718 || 7.68 || 3 |- | style="background-color:" | | style="text-align:left;" colspan="2" | Others | | 20,600 || 7.63 || 1 |- | colspan="7" style="background-color:#E9E9E9" | |- style="font-weight:bold;" | style="text-align:left;" colspan="4" | Total | 269,762 || 100.00 || 46 |- | colspan="7" style="background-color:#E9E9E9" | |- | style="text-align:left;" colspan="4" | Votes cast / turnout | 304,106 || 87.08 || style="background-color:#E9E9E9;" | |- | style="text-align:left;" colspan="4" | Registered voters | 349,220 || || style="background-color:#E9E9E9;" | |- | colspan="7" style="background-color:#E9E9E9" | |- | style="text-align:left;" colspan="7" | Source: Ministry of the Interior
CandidatePartyCoalitionVotes% Walter VitaliPDSPDS-PPI-FdV 145,664 50.41Filippo BerselliANAN-UF 52,127 18.04Giuseppe Gazzoni FrascaraFI 48,615 16.83 Ugo Renzo BoghettaPRC 20,452 7.08 Giovanni SalizzoniInd 10,569 3.66 Luigi PasquiniLN 4,533 1.57 Carlo MonacoLP 3,888 1.35Others 3,085 1.07Eligible voters100.00Voted87.08Blank or invalid ballotsTotal valid votes
Mayoral and City Council election, 1999 The election took place on two rounds: the first on 13 June, the second on 27 June 1999.
| colspan="7" align=center| |- |- style="background-color:#E9E9E9;text-align:center;" ! colspan="4" rowspan="1" style="text-align:left;" | Parties and coalitions ! colspan="1" | Votes ! colspan="1" | % ! colspan="1" | Seats |- | style="background-color:pink" rowspan="6" | | style="background-color:" | | style="text-align:left;" | For Bologna (Per Bologna) | DS | 57,263 || 25.36 || 11 |- | style="background-color:" | | style="text-align:left;" | The Democrats (I Democratici) | Dem | 26,036 || 11.53 || 4 |- | style="background-color:" | | style="text-align:left;" | Party of Italian Communists (Partito dei Comunisti Italiani) | PdCI | 8,789 || 3.89 || 1 |- | style="background-color:" | | style="text-align:left;" | Federation of the Greens (Federazione dei Verdi) | FdV | 5,762 || 2.55 || 1 |- | style="background-color:" | | style="text-align:left;" | Italian People's Party (Partito Popolare Italiano) | PPI | 3,863 || 1.71 || 0 |- | style="background-color:purple" | | style="text-align:left;" | Italian Democratic Socialists (Socialisti Democratici Italiani) | SDI | 3,303 || 1.46 || 0 |- style="background-color:pink" | style="text-align:left;" colspan="4" | Bartolini coalition (Centre-left) | 105,016 || 46.50 || 17 |- | style="background-color:lightblue" rowspan="4" | | style="background-color:orange" | | style="text-align:left;" | Your Bologna (La Tua Bologna) | | 35,125 || 15.55 || 11 |- | style="background-color:" | | style="text-align:left;" | Forza Italia | FI | 25,890 || 11.46 || 8 |- | style="background-color:" | | style="text-align:left;" | National Alliance (Alleanza Nazionale) | AN | 24,742 || 10.96 || 7 |- | style="background-color:blue" | | style="text-align:left;" | To Govern Bologna (Governare Bologna) | | 6,737 || 2.98 || 2 |- style="background-color:lightblue" | colspan="4" style="text-align:left;" | Guazzaloca coalition (Centre-right) | 92,494 || 40.96 || 28 |- | style="background-color:" | | style="text-align:left;" colspan="2" | Communist Refoundation Party (Rifondazione Comunista) | PRC | 11,223 || 4.97 || 1 |- | style="background-color:" | | style="text-align:left;" colspan="2" | Others | | 17,100 || 7.57 || 0 |- | colspan="7" style="background-color:#E9E9E9" | |- style="font-weight:bold;" | style="text-align:left;" colspan="4" | Total | 225,833 || 100.00 || 46 |- | colspan="7" style="background-color:#E9E9E9" | |- | style="text-align:left;" colspan="4" | Votes cast / turnout | 265,816 || 78.85 || style="background-color:#E9E9E9;" | |- | style="text-align:left;" colspan="4" | Registered voters | 337,097 || || style="background-color:#E9E9E9;" | |- | colspan="7" style="background-color:#E9E9E9" | |-